The Long Road Back
by Captain Hook the Ninja
Summary: "Did I hit him?" There was blood on the road and the boy wasn't moving. "I don't know. I don't think so." "Oh gosh, he is really badly hurt." She rolled him over, revealing his blood stained white shirt. We gasped, not because of the blood, but because of the school insignia emblazened on it reading: Blackthorne Insitute.
1. Chapter 1

The noise and laughter of the party died away as we neared my car. Three of us got in.

"Come on, Bex. Stop trying to suck off Grant's face and get in the car." I yelled at the tall, dark haired, cappuccino skinned girl.

She finally broke away from him and slid into the backseat next to little blonde Liz.

"Hey, Lizzie, watcha readin' back there?" Macey asked.

"You wouldn't understand."

"You know, you're probably right."

I laughed and pulled the car out of Tina's driveway and out onto the big, empty country road. Tina was the most popular and rich girl at our school, the Gallagher Academy. That night she had hosted a giant end of school party for the girls and any guys who happened to show up. The party had been at her parents' mansion, out in the middle of the Virginia countryside. It was very secluded, with no people living within a fifteen mile radius.

Macey reached a perfectly manicured hand over and turned the stereo up until it was blasting at max. I pressed the pedal down until we were zooming along, rocking out to Maroon 5.

"Adam is so hot." I sighed.

"Cam, you are..." Bex trailed off.

"What! I'm a what?" I exclaimed, laughing.

"Noth- Oh my God, Cam, look out!"

I locked my eyes back on the road and slammed on the brakes. A lone figure lay hunched in the middle of the road. I turned off the car and jumped out, the rest of the girls following me.

"Did I hit him?" I yelled. There was blood on the road and the boy wasn't moving.

"I don't know. I don't think so." Macey exclaimed.

Liz kneeled down and started checking him over. "Oh gosh, he is really badly hurt."

She rolled him over onto his back, revealing his blood stained white shirt. We all gasped, not because of the blood, but because of the school insignia emblazoned on it. It read: Blackthorne Institute.


	2. Chapter 2

Macey paced back and forth nervously, shaking her hands. "What are we gonna do! What are we going to do?"

"Mace, calm down." Bex commanded. "We are spies, everything will be fine."

"Yeah, what Bex said." I agreed. "Everything is going to be fine. Lizzie, think. What's around here?"

"Um..." she said, placing her fingers on her temples, thinking. "Safehouse. There's a safehouse. It's hidden away to look like a cabin in the woods. Very secure of course, it _is_ Gallagher. Uh, um, if we continue up the road for approximately two more miles, there is a dirt road on the left that looks like an old hunting trail. If we follow that, it will bring us to the safehouse after about ten minutes."

"Alright, you heard her girls." Macey snapped back into action. "Let's get him in the car and get going before someone else comes along."

"But Macey," I gulped, "he's Blackthorne."

"We know that." Bex said calmly. And with Bex, her calm voice was a terrifying sound. "And that's why we need to keep him close and get as much information out of him while we can."

I knelt down on the blacktop to help Bex pick up the unconscious boy. We carried him to the car and Macey opened the door for us. The girls squeezed in around him and I slowly began driving, keeping a lookout for the dirt road in the dark.

Blackthorne, I thought. The mysterious school for troubled boys. Boys who committed crimes were sent there. It was like a detention center, well not _like_ one, it _was_ one. Blackthorne only accepted the worst boys, and supposedly had the toughest schedule. I didn't want to know how this boy had escaped, or why he looked so beaten up.

"There!" Liz exclaimed, breaking me out of my thoughts.

The car jolted to a stop as I hit the brakes. Backing up a little, I turned down the nearly invisible dirt path. After what my internal clock told me was exactly twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds, the path opened into a small clearing with a cabin and a shed. I parked the car and ran up to the door. It was locked.

"It's locked!" I yelled.

"Look under the mat." Bex called back as she lifted the boy from under his arms and Macey grabbed his legs.

"Are you kidding me?" I grumbled under my breath. It didn't seem very likely for spies to hide their spare key under a doormat. Nonetheless, I bent down and lifted the mat up by a corner.

A key glistened in the moonlight.

I mentally face-palmed myself.

"'Kay, got it."

The girls carried the boy up to the door and I held it open for them before stepping inside.

Inside, the cabin consisted of a central kitchen- living room combo and three doors led off from the main room. I quickly opened them all to be greeted by a bathroom on the left and two bedrooms on the right.

"In here." I motioned to one of the bedrooms. Bex and Macey set him down on the bed. "Lizzie, find whatever first-aid stuff you can."

Moments later, Liz stumbled into the room, her arms full. "Oopsie daisy!" There was a clatter as she dropped several items on the wooden floor. At the sound, the boy on the bed stirred.

I gasped, "Shhhh!" his eyelids fluttered open and he groaned.

Macey and Bex stopped picking up the things Liz had dropped and looked at him.

"Where am I?" he croaked.

"What's your name?" I asked, ignoring his question.

It was barely a whisper when he said it, just one word.

"Zach."


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, _Zach_." Bex spat. "What did you do?"

"Stop, Bex, let him rest and get fixed up first." Liz spoke up. The little blonde started setting out the bottles and packages she had found and set to work.

"Lemme help." Macey helped wipe Zach clean of blood.

I went back out into the central room and started doing what I do best, exploring. In the kitchen there were assorted cans and boxes of nonperishable food items. Rice, powdered milk, hot cocoa mix, preserves, canned meats. In the living room there was a TV, a few DVDs. There was a stock of burner phones, fake IDs, and passports in a safe hidden behind a beautiful painting of a sunset on a lake. The bathroom was stocked with all necessary toiletries and towels. In each bedroom there were two beds, a dresser, and a small closet.

"Okay, we're done." Macey called out ten minutes later.

"Damage report?" I asked.

Liz started spewing off facts in some sort of scientific doctor language. "Lizzie. English."

"Oops, sorry. Zach here has three broken ribs, a sprained ankle, sprained wrist, broken lower left arm, slight concussion, various cuts and scrapes, some quite deep, and there will be lots of bruising. And pain."

Zach groaned. "Alright, so now we can question him?" Bex asked, cracking her knuckles with pleasure.

"Yes, I suppose." Liz said regretfully.

"Okay Zachy. So what did you do to get yourself into Blackthorne?"

"Stole a car, impersonated an official, broke into a museum, and stole a priceless Rafael." his voice crackled as he spoke.

"Get him some water." I told Macey.

"Well," Bex continued, "What's it like in there?"

"You couldn't imagine."

Macey returned with a glass of water. Zach sipped some and set the glass down just as he slipped back into an unconscious sleep.

"What is your name?" Bex asked.

"Zachary Goode." Zach answered. He was pretty calm for a person who was duct taped to a chair and being interrogated by Rebecca Baxter.

As she worked, I took the opportunity to get a closer look at Zach. With his cuts cleaned and bandaged, broken bone set in temporary casts, he looked almost human again. All those cuts and bruises couldn't have come from being hit by my car though. They seemed to be pattern-like, a criss-crossing pattern. Almost methodical. Almost as if…no. It couldn't be. Or could it?

"Why are you here?"

"I was kidnapped by four crazy girls." he smirked.

Bex didn't even break stride, "What were you doing on County Route 4 on the night of June 15th?"

"I was trying to get as far away from that damn place as possible."

Before he could answer, I blurted out, "You were tortured." It was more of a statement than a question.

Zach replied with silence, but I didn't need him to confirm what I knew, what I had been trained to know. To see. Notice everything.

"Who tortured you, and why?"

"Gallagher girl." he said, looking at the Gallagher sweater I was wearing, "Maybe someday I'll be able to tell you that. But today is not that day."

Bex jumped right back into her interrogation, not missing a beat, "Tell us who tortured you. And why. Now."

"Oh, I highly doubt you four have the clearance to hear that."

"Oh, you wanna bet?" Bex rolled up her sleeves.

"Bex," I said in a warning tone, grabbing her arm.

Zach smirked, man that smirk was annoying. "We have the highest clearance of any girls at our school." Liz piped up. "We have higher clearance than some of the teachers even. Now I think you can tell us who tortured you, and why."

The smirk faded slightly, but the glimmer in his eyes was still there. It was almost as if this was a game to him.

"Well, my dear, I suppose I could tell you a bit of it. See, I was walking across the grounds, going back to my dorm. Suddenly there was a bag over my head and everything went dark. I woke up in a cave, tied with vines. As my eyes focused, I saw..."

We were all leaning in slightly, "What, what?" Liz squeaked.

"A bear." he laughed. "Are all Gallagher girls this gullible?"

Bex's hand shot out before any of us could react; she smacked Zach straight across the face, hard enough that her fingers were clearly visible on his face. Head tilted to the side with impact, Zach spit out a mouthful of blood and tossed his hair out of his face.

"To return to your previous question, I was trying to get away from Blackthorne."

"And why would that be?" I was doing the questioning now.

He shrugged, because I was tired of being locked up. Felt like taking a stroll off campus."

Locked up. "What exactly _is_ Blackthorne?"

Zach's face formed into an expression of fake surprise and hurt, "They never told you about us? I am hurt. How could they keep such a secret from you all?"

"What are you talking about?" I was starting to get frustrated, not good, I was letting him get to me.

He smirked and said, "I know all about your little school, Gallagher girl."

"Oh yeah? What about my school? I thought we were talking about your school."

"Well, you should know all about my school, seeing as how you go to the same one, except for girls."


	4. Chapter 4

Our mouths were hanging open. No matter how much training we had received, nothing could have prepared us for that.

"So, you're a..." I couldn't even finish my sentence.

Zach pointed to himself with a smirk, "Spy."

"Tina was always spreading rumors about there being a boys' spy school, but I thought they were just that. Rumors." Macey's face was as white as a sheet.

Unable to think of anything else to do, I walked out of the room. My feet led me out onto the back porch, overlooking a dark river. Sunlight slanted through the trees as the sun dipped toward the horizon, casting shadows over the land. Hands gripping the railing, I leaned over, losing myself in the flow of the water.

Sometime later I was joined by Liz. "Cam, can you come inside? We need to talk. All of us."

Wordlessly, I released my grip on the railing and followed Liz inside. Macey and Bex were sitting on the couch waiting for us. I sat down in the armchair, leaving the remaining space on the couch for Liz, running my hands through my hair. I really needed a shower.

"What are we going to do with him?" It was Bex who finally spoke what we were all thinking.

"Someone's after him, and if he won't tell us who, then I don't see how we can do anything." I said, "We definitely can't stay here much longer though."

"Why don't we go over what we know?" Liz suggested. "He's from Blackthorne. He was tortured. Someone somewhere is trying to find him."

"Yes, and the list of things we _don't_ know is a whole hell of a lot longer." Macey put in, leaning back and examining her fingernails. "Guys, the point here is that a decision needs to be made. Where are we going? And does he stay here, or do we take him with us?"

"Well, I think the answer is rather obvious." I locked my gaze on Macey.

"No."

"What?"

"No. No, no, no! Absolutely not!"

"Mace, why not?"

"We are NOT bringing Preston into this mess."

"Macey, we need him."

Liz joined in then, "Cam's right, Mace. We need Preston's help."

Macey looked at Bex, "Any opinion?"

"I agree with them. We need him, Macey."

Macey sat back and crossed her arms. "Fine."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hi guys, sorry it's been awhile, so busy! Also, I had some major writers block, but I'm getting over it now. If you are reading any of my other stories, please know, I am ging to try to have them all updated by tomorrow night. Thank you so much for your patience. XOXO~Captain I watched the ice floating around in my glass of lemonade. The sun was setting on another day; making the river turn into a rainbow of color. A ray of light bounced through the glass and sparkled on my face. A distinctive thud sound could be heard in the cabin as Zach moved about. The thuds were growing closer. The screen door creaked open and I spun around, mouth open, ready to say something I would probably end up regretting, but he stopped me. "Gallagher Girl, I'm sorry. Okay?" Zach shoved his hands in his pockets and stared down at his feet, a long silence drawing out between us. "The thing is, Blackthorne isn't exactly a school for spies, it's a school for... assassins." He ran his fingers through hiss dark brown hair. "Once you get in, there is no getting out. No matter how much you want to. The only way to get out is if you're dead. And right now, they probably think that I am just that." "How come Blackthorne knows about Gallagher, but Gallagher doesn't know about Blackthorne?" I crossed my arms in defiance, setting the lemonade on the porch rail. "Oh, trust me, everyone knows about everyone except if they are a student. That's partially why I was in so much trouble... and still am." "It's okay, we can just take you to my mom. She'll know what to do." "No!" Zach shook his head, "We can't let anyone know that I'm alive. 'Cause then not only me, but everyone even remotely associated with me would be in danger." "Zach, who is after you?" "I can't tell you." "Yes you can." "No, really, I can't. Because I don't know." 


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry its been so long guys. I've been so busy with finals and regents and stuff. But it's summer now and I'm back and will be updating all my stories regularly again. Please read and review. Tell me if there are any problems because my computer has been a little weird with the uploading stuff lately. Thank you and sorry again.**

"It rained last night."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"Well someone didn't sleep well last night."

"No dip, Sherlock."

"Okay, Cam, what's wrong?" Macey said as she handed me a cup of hot cocoa.

"Nothing," I sighed, taking a sip, "I was just up all night. Partly because of the rain storm. I mean, that was some serious stuff. But it was mostly because I was thinking about _him._ Also the fact that we've been here too long; we need to move soon."

"She's right." Bex said as she strolled into the kitchen.

I heard some noise coming from the room where Zach slept so I got out of there quickly. "Um, I'm gonna go take a look at the river."

"Cam." Macey put a hand on my arm. "Be careful."

Why does that seem to be the only thing people ever say to me lately? So I got kidnapped, like, two times? Whatever. Pulling on my coat, I headed out into the chilly morning air. The river was running fast and furious down in the valley. The level had risen almost a foot after the heavy rains of the previous night. Water swirled, dark and muddy, carrying a variety of debris along in the swift current. I carefully picked my way down the bank until I was standing at the edge of the water, arms crossed over my chest against the chill.

Somewhere up the hill behind me, the back door creaked and slammed. I could barely here it over the roar of the river though. Staring into the river, I lost myself in thought, caught up in the swirls and whirls.

"Hey."

I spun around too quickly for the slippery slope and saw Zach standing at the top of the bank just before my head went under the water.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey! Sorry again about the wait. But look at this, I fixed chapter 6 and posted chapter 7 all in one day! You gotta ove summer. Lol I love this story it's so epic. It's my favorite fanfic that I've written... so far... hehehe Cuz I've got plans for some awesome Jelsa fanfics :) Just you wait guys. I take such pride in my work and I always want everything to be perfect so please tell me if anything is wrong or incorrect and I'll fix it. Thank you all so much for reading!**

Water was everywhere. Above, below, to the side. I couldn't tell up from down, the surface from the bottom. It was all a dark, brown, cold mess. A mess that I was in. My eyelids started to droop and my thoughts were getting fuzzy. I knew, something within me knew, that I shouldn't release myself to the sleep that was calling to me, but...

Suddenly an arm snaked under mine, holding me tight. The last thing I remember is feeling my limp body being pulled up, against the current, to the surface. And then, the darkness.

"Cammie? Cammie! Can you hear me?" I could hear the faint voices of someone calling to me. But where were they? I tried to open my eyes, fluttering the lids. "Oh my gosh!" the voice exclaimed, "Cammie!? Are you there? Can you hear me?"

The voices grew fainter until I was consumed by the darkness again.

When I surfaced into conciousness again everything was quiet. I tentatively opened my eyes, keeping my body still. In the dim afternoon light I could just make out my bedroom in the cottage. The door was closed, the shades drawn over the window. And thn there was the old wooden chair against the wall by my bed. Chin resting on crossed arms, eyes closed. Most likely fallen asleep while keeping watch over me. It wasn't any of my friends, but Zach.

"Zach." my voice sounded rough and scratchy. My throat felt thick and dry. It was barely a whisper, ut it was enough to wake the sleeping boy.

His head jerked up, flinging strands of dark hair out of his face. Zach jumped out of the chair and rushed over to my side. "Cammie?"

"Zach." I said his name again. It hurt to speak. "Water."

"Yeah, yeah." he handed me a glass from the nightstand. As he helped me take a sip I noticed an emotion in his eyes. An emotion I couldn't quite place. Concern maybe? I tried to swallow the water but ended up choking and spluttering. "Here." Zach helped me sit up, stuffing an extra pillow behind my back.

This time the water stayed down. "What happened?" I croaked.

"Well, I came out to find you and apologize. I wanted to explain. Then you fell in the river and I jumped in after you."

"But what about all your injuries?"

"Yeah, it sure didn't help my injuries, but it helped you. Saved your life."

"Um," I cleared my throat, "So what did you want to expl..." I didnt get to finish my question. Bex burst in the room.

"I told you I heard talking." she yelled back to the girls who came rushing in from the other room.

"Cammie! Are you okay?" Macey asked as she came over. "Do you need anything?"

I stared speechless, my mouth slightly open as Zach slipped out the door. "No." I said, finding my voice. "I'm fine."

This however was not enough to get them to leave. Liz changed my bandages and checked my injuries. Macey made me eat some food. Bex brought me up to date on everything I had missed while I was unconcious.

"You were unconcious for a day and a half. We came up with a plan to get out of here though."

"That's great and all, Bex, but I don't want to be on the run forever. Can we ever go home?"

"Not until Zachy there tells us who's after him and explains why it's not safe to go back. So you have him to thank for all the running."

"Well, I have him to thank for something." I mumble to myself, not thinking of the running, but of something else I forgot to thank him for.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Wow! Second update this week! Haha don't get used to it ;D This one isn't really a shocker, you could probably tell it was coming. Anyways it's pretty intense, and to all of you out there who want Zammie; don't worry, it's coming. This is a slowmance type story.**

**Also, if any of you have seen Maleficent and totally ship Aurora wiht Diaval (the crow) then please pm me if you have any ideas! I'm really want to write a fanfic about them but I need some ideas. Anything can help.**

**Thx guys, I love you all! :)**

I couldn't sleep. It was part pain and part thought. After hours of tossing and turning I finally dragged myself out of bed. I grabbed a slightly dusty blanket from the back of a closet, made a cup of cocoa and headed out onto the back porch. Wrapped up in the blanket, hands soaking up the warmth from the steaming mug; I sat on a questionable rocking chair and stared silently out into the night.

It wasn't long before footsteps were creaking across the cabin towards the door. _Oh great. _I thought, _Someone's come after me to drag me back to bed already._

But the person who joined me on the porch, hands shoved into pockets, was the person I had least expected.

Zach.

"Hey Gallagher girl." he said quietly.

"Hey Blackthorne boy." I whispered back.

In the silence that followed I could hear the night creatures. Frogs and owls. Coyotes and crickets. I sipped my cocoa and waited for Zach to say something. Anything. To tell me what he wass going to say that afternoon, before we got interrupted. But the silence dragged on, both of us seemingly lost in thought. My internal clock told me it had been ten minutes. I was about to clear my throat and question him when he finally spoke.

"I lied."

I was silent, staring into the darkness, waiting for him to continue.

"Cammie, I do know who's after me. And they know a lot about me. About you. About everyone. But they know the most about me."

"Who is it, Zach?"

He ignored my question. "I've been running all my life. I finally was starting to feel safe at Blackthorne. But they're everywhere, they found me. I should have known, should have realized... but I let my guard down. That's when they got me."

"Who, Zach?"

"Blackthorne was supposed to be clear, I thought it was. Then I met him. I knew there was something off about him from the moment I laid eyes on him, but I pushed it aside as paranoia."

"Who, Zach? Just tell me who."

"When I finally realized I was right, that he was one of them... It was too late. Then she was there and..." he trailed off.

"Zach, please tell me who you are talking about."

"I almost died. It took everything I had to escape from that place. I can't believe I made it as far as I did, it was luck. But you're right, we can't stay here any longer. We have to move, they're probably already closing in on us and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Who, Zach!?" I remembered at the last moment not to shout, to lose my temper and scream at him. Eyes wide, I stared at him in the moonlight. His hands clenched the railing so tight his knuckles were white. Dark brown hair fell in his face as he hung his head. And finally answered my question.

"The Cirle of Cavan."


End file.
